I recently replaced the standard HD in my late-2012 Mini with a Samsung 840 500GB SSD. I'm using it as the the boot drive and then using an external 3TB Seagate HD for data storage (downloads, music, photos, documents, desktop). To make this happen I set the path of the Home Directory to the external Seagate HD which is where my user home folder now resides.

I've been told this is self-defeating because stuff like preferences, scripts and caches are stored in the user home folder and the OS will have to switch back and forth between the SSD and HD to access this information. I've tried keeping the home folder on the boot SSD and use symlinks to off-load data to the HD but they don't seem to work. The OS defaults to the original Download, Pictures, Music, etc. folders on the boot. Deleting these folders via Terminal does no good because they simply reappear the next time I reboot.

So, the question is, should I keep trying to reconfigure my home folder to the boot or leave well enough alone with it on my HD like it is now?

I would have probably just left the home directory on your SSD, seeing that it's 500GB. I mean, that's going to give you the best performance. Plus, you can always move it back through your Accounts user panel if things get tight storage wise.

I would have probably just left the home directory on your SSD, seeing that it's 500GB. I mean, that's going to give you the best performance. Plus, you can always move it back through your Accounts user panel if things get tight storage wise.

Thanks for the reply. Moving the Home Folder back onto the SSD more or less negates the purpose of having my data offloaded to a second hard drive because of the issue of default folders that I mentioned. I have more than 2TB of data (downloads, photos, music, etc.) that need to be on a larger drive. If the Home Folder is on the SSD that's where are this data stores by default. Deleting these system default folders or creating symlinks to the external HD has not worked so far.

I left my home dir on the boot SSD. I didn't want to mess with the default folders so I symlink'd the dirs under them instead ie instead of linking Music, I linked the subdir iTunes; I linked the iPhoto/Aperture library instead of Pictures, etc.

I left my home dir on the boot SSD. I didn't want to mess with the default folders so I symlink'd the dirs under them instead ie instead of linking Music, I linked the subdir iTunes; I linked the iPhoto/Aperture library instead of Pictures, etc.

Brendan

I tried the same thing but, as I explained, everything defaults to the original system folders in the Home Folder. How did you manage to delete these default folders so things would end up in your symlinked folders? When I deleted the default folders via Terminal they'd reappear on reboot.

Joined: 19 Aug 2006Posts: 720Location: A large Island called Vancouver

Posted: Sun Apr 21, 2013 12:36 pm Post subject:

Both iTunes and iPhoto have a preference option that allow you to offload their libraries to external drives, as stated above.
This lets you put these huge data files anywhere you choose without messing about trying to relocate your "Home Folder" which can lead to disaster._________________"I would never want to be a member of a group whose symbol was a man nailed to two pieces of wood"
-George Carlin